It's August 18th.

You're listening to the President's Daily Brief.

I'm your host and former CIA officer Brian Dean Wright.

Your morning intel starts now.

First up, the CDC is admitting this morning that it failed during the COVID pandemic.

Its director is promising to prevent such from ever happening again.

But critics argue it's too late.

They're already failing on the next issue of monkeypox.

I'll explain their argument.

As always, I'm keeping an eye out for developing stories, put these two on your radar.

Two stories this morning focused on the mega drought in the western United States.

First, how it's affecting America's cotton farmers.

And second, some rare good news for Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the country.

I'll explain those stories and why you should care.

And finally, one more thing before I let you go, a question from Jack in Rhode Island.

He wants to know what advice I would have given President Trump on what the classified

intelligence should or shouldn't have been taken once he left the White House.

But first, let's get started with today's main brief.

Yesterday, the CDC's director acknowledged that her agency failed to properly respond

to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Director Rochelle Walensky said, quote, for 75 years, the CDC and public health officials

have been preparing for COVID-19.

...